The top stories of the week at EcoSalon.

As McDonalds unpacks its products in an attempt to come clean about how and where it gets its ingredients, we take a closer look (because yes, we like to raise a McEyebrow).

Amy DuFault unpacks rich, sad memories of her grandmother, Jeanne Julia Kerouac.

If you like unearthing bargains from the unlikeliest corners, check out our 40 photos from flea markets round the world.

And, if you’re packing too much into your life, ponder a few of these 50 quotes on meditation and yoga.

Finally, make sure you do not miss the return of the EcoSalon Box! This amazing, limited-edition curated collection of eco-goodies is available in 6 assortments, all priced at the rock-bottom steal of $99. Each assortment would originally retail at over $500, so this is an amazing deal. Check out our  Fashion, Conscious Eating, Travel, Health + Beauty, Mom + Baby and Entertainment assortments now. Go on, get!

ColumnConscious life, hear me roar.

Even when I was little, I knew my grandmother was a deeply sad woman.

In fact, my earliest memory of my grandmother is the one of me listening to her weeping quietly in her bedroom when she didn’t know I was hiding in her closet (having just found a bevy of beautiful hats in striped hat boxes).

“Why is memere sad?” I may have asked my mother and father, but only they knew at the time the weight she carried, and they never answered me.

For years, my grandmother and I would play War with miniature playing cards that had images of Paris on them – the Moulin Rouge, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame – she in her comfy rocker in the corner, me on the piano bench she positioned for when I’d come over. With my three brothers and three male cousins playing touch football outside, there was no room for girls, but Memere would sit me down with some strawberry soda in a fancy glass and always make me feel special.

“Who cares about the boys,” she’d say in her French Quebecois accent, smiling, “for we’ve got each other.”

Through the years, I’d share and teach her from my reading texts from school (she with only a fourth grade education), tell her winsome stories about life as a tween, teen and finally, when she came to live with us, how much I just had to get away. Having lived in the same house my entire life and at that time, attending a local community college, I longed for travel and a chance at adventure and freedom, far away from the confines of anything comfortable, familiar.

“How much do you need to get away?” She asked.

“I feel like I’ll die if I don’t,” I said.

My grandmother told me a story of why she was going to give me money to get away, and I have never forgotten it.

Having grown up in Montreal, my grandmother was very stylish and worldly. She had big dreams of doing big things and shirked many a suitor, not feeling that commitment was her primary responsibility in life. She left Canada in her twenties and ended up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she waitressed at a mom-and-pop restaurant until she met my grandfather. She was considered a spinster, not having married yet, and my grandfather cured her of that with a proposal for marriage.

From here, the story changes. My grandfather was, simply, a bastard. He left her alone on their honeymoon to attend an electrician’s conference, left her alone in her home for years while he had an affair with a paraplegic woman (my grandmother explained how she’d watch them from a corner drug store as they had daily lunch), left her alone as she vomited out windows from her descent into alcoholism, left her alone as she raised two children. Left her for the circus when he retired.

Left at home, she subscribed to National Geographic and collected all the center-folded maps, wrote to nuns and priests at the Vatican and Paris’ Sacre Coeur to give her strength, was never taught to drive so watched mass on television – going through the motions of blessing herself, kneeling and never getting the body of Christ placed in her mouth.

At some point, she just gave up. Gave up that she would ever see Paris, gave up drinking, gave up romantic love and settled into her rocker to play solitaire.

“I always wanted to do what you are going to do,” she said, and told me I had $10,000 to do what I wanted with. It otherwise would be mine when she died.

There was one condition: “I want to see this,” she said.

Aren’t we all destined for greatness thanks to our grandmothers?

With her money, I went to school for Italian Literature and Art in Florence, Italy, and lived in a castle with artists. I backpacked Europe by myself, exploring 13 countries. I slept in the Sahara in a goat skin tent during Ramadan. I roamed every European city’s streets, drinking strong coffee, having affairs, and when I went to Paris? I called my grandmother collect.

“What do you see? What does it smell like?” Memere asked through strangled sobs.

Jammed inside a pay phone booth staring at the Notre Dame I didn’t know what to say except: “It’s beautiful.”

When I would arrive home many months later, I would surprise them all at a family party. I would run in and my memere, so stunned, could only grab me and bury her face in my hair to see what Europe smelled like.

A few weeks ago, I was on a flight to San Francisco and passing over a very cold middle America: snow capped Rocky Mountains, frozen rivers and cities dotting the landscape out of nowhere. My grandmother died years ago, and yet I still think of her when I travel. How she would’ve felt to be all alone on a plane, touching down on another coast. How the Kerouac blood runs deep when you need to travel. How the spirit of her roams with me in every city I explore.

Between the Lines is a weekly column navigating the sometimes-sharp, sometimes-blurred lines of life and culture between city and country, between inner worlds and outer.

Image: friedchuckles

Eco-friendly travel products to inspire your next adventure.

Our exclusive EcoSalon shopping must-have, the curated eco product assortment known as The Box, is back. We’re offering $500 worth of eco-goodies for the New Year for just $99 and these won’t last. That’s a guarantee.

Planning adventures for 2012? Look no further than this box to get you equipped for all of your traveling endeavors. It’s full of everything you’ll need no matter where your destination.

(If you do miss out this time around, our friends at Matador are hosting a giveaway for the last remaining Entertainment Box standing. Head on over to their site and register to win!)

Just look at what we have in store for you this time around:

Icebreaker City Zephyr hoodie

Stay warm in this soft and comfortable merino wool hoodie from Icebreaker. The merino fibers make this piece warm in the winter, cool in the summer and ideal for any adventure.

Please note that we have limited sizing, so first come first serve. Specify S, M, or L in your order note and we’ll do our best to accommodate!

(Retail value of $140)

Looptworks 13″ Laptop Sleeve

Raw Elements Sunscreen

Travel light with this Raw Elements ECO STICK 30+, completely water resistant and easy to apply. Unlike most sunscreens, this one is full of organic goodness, from sunflower oil to cocoa butter. It’s also jam packed with active antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and extracts, which will continue to protect your skin long after environmental exposure.

(Retail value of $15.99)

TRTLBOT Minimalist iPhone case

Make sure your phone is protected with this Minmalist case from TRTLBOT. This case is the perfect travel companion as it has space for your credit cards on the backside. Stash everything you need for the evening and go sans bag.

(Retail value of $29.95)

Bamboo shoe deodorizer

You know that cringing feeling you get when you cram your dirty, smelly running shoes into your bag and you fear pulling them out upon arrival? Never again with this bamboo shoe deodorizer from Ever Bamboo. All you have to do is pop them in you your shoes and they will keep them dry and odor free. With proper care, these deodorizers will last for up to one year.

Eco Budeez headphones

Keep your beats going strong while you’re on the road with these sleek white headphones from i-Ecko. They have an assymetrical cord to fit around your head and prevent tangling. There’s even a volume control. The plastic is made with recyclable PET and the packaging is made of recycled cardboard and the same PET plastic used in the earbuds.

(Retail value $6.99)

Reusable Titanium Spork

Stash this extra strength yet ultralight titanium spork from Snowpeak in your bag and you’ll never be stuck eating on the road with plastic. The hole in the handle makes it easy to attach and carry.

(Retail value of $9.95)

iFixit Thirsty Bag

You’re walking along the beach, enjoying a few days off, when all of a sudden you realize you have dropped your phone and it has just been submerged. Not to worry, you have a Thirsty Bag, a liquid absorption bag designed to dry all the water out of your phone after it gets wet. The bag is small and portable so keep it with you for those inopportune moments when technological disaster strikes.

(Retail value of $6.95)

People Towels reusable hand towels

A two day supply of People Towels will take you far. Made with 100% organic cotton and low impact dyes, these fast-drying beautiful hand towels are the perfect alternative to paper towels in public facilities. They come in an easy to pack eco-sack and the hang tag makes it easy to attach on to clothes, bottles, or backpacks so that you can take them with you wherever you go.

(Retail value of $15.99)

Sugru Hack

Sugru is exactly the thing you want to have when you travel because it really can be used for anything; it’s only limited by your own creativity. Repair damaged cables, protect your phone with bumpers, make a new grip for your camera… the list goes on. This is the stuff that makes your belongings last longer, so take it along on your travels and keep yourself from buying new.

(Retail value of $12.15)

Actual Media Pocket

Designed to protect your media device from the bumps and scratches of everyday life, this Media Pocket by Actual will fit an iPhone, iPod and other small PDAs, phones and media players. The sleek design features grey wool from factory excess and it’s 100% made in the USA.

(Retail value of $18)

100 Places to Go Before They Disappear

What will our world look like in 10, 20, 100 years? Because of the serious effects of climate change, the world as we know it will transform. 100 Places to Go Before They Disappear features the locations on all seven continents in the greatest danger of disappearing within our lifetime, giving you a bucket list of places to travel to before it’s too late.

(Retail value of $24.95)

Weleda Pomegranate Regenerating Hand Cream

Keep this travel sized tube of Weleda Pomegranate Hand Cream and you’ll always have a soothing treatment for your hands no matter where you are. It’s made with organic pmegranate seed oil, which is naturally rich in antioxidants that protect your skin.

(Retail value of $12.50)

CleanWell To Go Disinfectant Spray

Eating out after a long day of trekking across town? Make sure you freshen up before your meal and give your hands a quick spray of CleanWell To Go Disinfectant. The spray is made with Thymol, a component
of thyme oil, which cleans, disinfects and deodorizes.

(Retail value of $4.29)

Orders are processed through Paypal. Simply click to buy!

Notes to EcoSalon

The fine print: Please note there will be an additional $30 flat charge which covers all shipping, handling and sales tax fees. Packages are processed and shipped with love within 7 business days of ordering via UPS ground. We cannot ship internationally (we wish we could!). You’ll receive a confirmation email once your order has gone through. Due to the extremely limited nature of these special assortments, we regret that refunds are not possible if you change your mind. If any items you receive are damaged, the participating brands and EcoSalon are happy to replace them for you as soon as the item(s) is available. If the exact item is not available, one of similar value will be offered. Enjoy your assortment of green goodies!

We’re excited to send them your way.

10 ways to say the famous J.R.R. Tolkien quote.

Pas tous ceux qui errent sont perdus. – French

Nicht alle, die wandern, gehen verloren. – German

भटकने वाले सभì (bhataknay waley sabhi log gum nahi(n) hotey). – Hindi

Non tutti quelli che vagano si perdono. - Italian

Non totus quisnam flos es lost. - Latin

Law pain i reviar mistar aen. - Sindarin (a fictional Elvish language)

Nu toti cei care hoinaresc sunt rataciti. – Romanian

Níl gach uile fhánaí caillte. - Scottish Gaelic

No todos los que vagan andan perdidos. – Spanish

Inte alla som vandrar går vilse. - Swedish

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Image: Mizrak

Tips for traveling light (stylishly) wherever you may roam.

Anyone who has ever tried to haul oversize suitcases along city streets, onto buses and trains, or up the stairs of a subway platform is well acquainted with the less glamorous side of travel. There are the sweat-stains, the fear of being mugged whilst carrying everything you own, the inopportune dropping of documents, and the desperate search for somebody, anybody, to help you carry your baggage up the stairs.

You’ll often hear globetrotters extol the benefits of packing light, priding themselves on the ability to pack only a modest carry on, whether going away for three days or three weeks.

Recently, I’ve come to realize the benefits not only of packing light, but of living light as well. For the past eight months, through different seasons, continents and hemispheres, I’ve lived only with the contents of my trusty Samsonite bag. Other than the few boxes of sentimental paraphernalia currently gathering dust at my parents’ house, I have little else in the way of worldly possessions.

My stint of extended suitcase living – of which there is no end in sight for the foreseeable future – has been a liberating exercise. At home, I’ve always struggled to minimize my belongings, donate the things I don’t need, and only make conscious purchases. On the road, those practices have effortlessly become a requirement of my existence.

While lugging all your belongings on your back is an impressive demonstration of minimalism, it’s a slightly less challenging one when it’s completely acceptable to look, well, like a seasoned backpacker.

Instead, I have appeared to the outside world as a stable member of society, rather than the quasi-transient one that I actually am. Meetings, interviews, weddings, and dinner parties have all been attended in appropriate and stylish, dress. The best part about this has been proving to myself that living with this kind of simplicity is not only possible, it’s preferred. And somehow, my life seems richer for it.

Shopping is rarely on the list of priorities these days, which is a boon for my bank account. When I do buy something, it’s usually of a higher quality, because I buy things less often. The house wares section of stores – the part that sells things like salad bowls, plush bath towels and scented candles – seems humorously irrelevant to me. In short, when the weight of your material possessions can’t exceed 23 kg, it leaves a whole lot of room for everything else in life.

With that said, there are a few tricks to mastering this spartan sense of style. Fortunately, none of them involve Teva sandles or convertible pants.

• Find a good blazer- a fitted jacket can make even the simplest outfit look sharp. A black or navy blazer does triple duty – wear it to a meeting, over a cocktail dress, or with jeans and a t-shirt on a long flight – and no one will suspect you have no permanent address.
• Don’t get attached- Each time I’m about to move on to a new place, I take careful stock of what I’m actually going to use while there. When I realized I probably wasn’t going to need a pair of chunky (and heavy) platforms while exploring Asia and Africa, my roommate in London happily took them off my hands. It’s important to get rid of stuff responsibly though – don’t just throw it away. There are almost always local charity shops, thrift stores, or perhaps even some appreciative locals who might be happy to acquire some of your stuff.
• Neutral, but not boring- Any list of packing tips will stress packing with a neutral color pallet in mind. While this is certainly a prudent tip, dressing in heather gray, beige and black can get pretty boring when you’re doing it for months at a time. I like to collect colorful scarves and sarongs when I’m traveling – my favorite piece being a green patterned sarong I bought on a beach in Kenya – because they add interest to outfits, can be worn in multiple ways, and don’t weigh much. I also try to keep the weight of fabrics in mind: heavy knits like sweaters or denim should be neutral, because they’re worn the most, while color can be added with light items like linen sun dresses and silk tops.
• Think about what you’re accumulating- When you’re traveling or living in new places, it’s natural to want to buy stuff. But the weight of those funky wooden beads you bought from the street hawker or those quirky vintage tins you found in that antique market add up. I once watched a roommate pack and find she had accumulated three times the baggage weight allowance for her flight back to Brazil. Don’t think that just because something is cheap and novel that it’s worth buying.

To be fair, there is some sacrifice involved in suitcase living, missing my French press coffee maker and wishing I had a bicycle are two. However, I’ve found in recent months that what I’m lacking in stuff, I more than make up for in the experiences I’m accumulating.

Luckily, I don’t think the airlines will be limiting the weight of those anytime soon.

Flickr: kthread

ColumnTravel lessons: Good food, from good places, with good people.

Only one day into a trip to Baja, Mexico, and my friend Megan and I had come up with our official “Taco Challenge.” (Because when you travel, you should always have a challenge.) This one involved eating at least one taco every day. Three days into the trip, and not only did we have another fellow traveler on board with the Taco Challenge, we were developing a full-blown taco ranking system. Based on a scale from 1 to 5, the taco eater was required to rate both the taco and the ambiance of where it was consumed. Such are the challenges when eating while traveling.

Travel and food go hand in hand. Why do you think there are so many destination specific foods topping the trend lists for 2012? Because food in itself is a form of travel, letting us explore no matter if we’re in the country of the food’s origin or thousands of miles away.

So let’s get back to Mexico.

The best tacos, as most anyone will tell you, are to be found at the simplest taquerias. Concrete floors, open walls, maybe even a grapefruit tree planted in the middle. There may be a TV in the background with a Spanish speaking sports announcer. Near the kitchen a man in an apron may be cutting charred pieces of pastor from the large vertical spit. There will be a centerpiece of freshly sliced cucumber and several bowls of salsa, and if you’re really lucky, you’ll even have a full toppings bar to choose from; Pickled onions, guacamole, cilantro, four kinds of salsa and fresh cabbage are standard. At this point, it’s impossible not to eat well.

When you travel, food can be best when it’s at its simplest form. Take away the stars, the fancy menus, and fancy décor and what are you left with? Food. Food that represents a local community and culture. So you forget about words like “organic” and “local” and “artisan,” because when it comes down to it, what’s on the plate in front of you represents something beyond that.

Later, we drive along the Pacific, and in between a taqueria and the beach, there is a basil farm. In an otherwise arid landscape with prickly cacti and desert rocks, there are also pockets of lush, verdant, farmland. The smell of basil seeps through the open car windows. There is an instant feel of being better connected to the land where food comes from. At home, the smell of basil is reserved for studio apartment windows and farmers markets. Here it’s simply part of the air.

But even Baja has an organic market. A glorious spread of food, art and music, tucked into a corner of San Jose del Cabo every single Saturday Market. There’s even artisan cheese at Mercado Organico, along with homemade bread and fresh vegetables in wooden crates.

And the organic portabello tacos, covered with a layer of herbs and cheese and grilled right in front of us? They get a 5.

There is an ongoing debate about the value of organic. Where does your organic come from? Because a farm doesn’t have the resources to get organic certification, does that mean their produce isn’t as good as the larger scale farm that’s mass producing organic lettuce? When we focus on simply one element of food we forget about all the rest: who grew it, how it was grown, where it was grown. Blindly choosing certified organic is a sign of not truly thinking about what we eat. It’s just as bad as choosing a restaurant simply because they serve up figs wrapped in bacon and pour their bourbon drinks into a mason jar.

Choosing food because you know where it comes from, and that it was made with intention, and not because the latest hip food blog told you to eat it is a different story. A quesadilla grilled on the beach, made with fresh tortillas and cheese beats an organic wheatgrass smoothie from the trustafarian owned juice shop any day. And a restaurant doesn’t have to be fancy, it just needs to serve up fresh food with a community feel. That’s the reminder we get when we travel, and the ideal that we should all embrace when it comes to food we make and eat at home.

Good food, from good places, with good people – if we can make that a 2012 food trend, we’ll be doing well. With or without tacos.

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s weekly column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground, discovering what’s new and different in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to the culinary avant garde.

Images: Anna Brones

EcoSalon’s favorite 30 quotes about travel.

We travel, in essence, to become young fools again – to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more. – Pico Iyer

Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends. – Maya Angelou

Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself. – The Holstee Manifesto

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted. – Bill Bryson

To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. – Freya Stark

The traveler’s boast, sometimes couched as a complaint, is that of having been an eyewitness, and invariably this experience — shocking though it may seem at the time — is an enrichment, even a blessing, one of the life-altering trophies of the road. – Paul Theroux

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. – John Steinbeck

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move. – Robert Louis Stevenson

When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in. – D. H. Lawrence

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. – Lao Tzu

What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies. -Jack Kerouac

The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes sight-seeing. – Daniel J. Boorstin

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey. – Fitzhugh Mullan

Half the fun of travel is the esthetic of lostness. – Ray Bradbury

A person needs at intervals to separate from family and companions and go to new places. One must go without familiars in order to be open to influences, to change. – Katharine Butler Hathaway

Most of my treasured memories of travel are recollections of sitting. – Robert Thomas Allen

Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. – Alan Keightley

There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror. – Orson Welles 

What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road. – William Least Heat-Moon

To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. – Aldous Huxley 

He who would travel happily must travel light. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance. – Bumper sticker

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. – Lin Yutang

The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see. – G. K. Chesterton

Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world. – Gustave Flaubert

Most travel is best of all in the anticipation or the remembering; the reality has more to do with losing your luggage. – Regina Nadelson

Not all those who wander are lost. – J. R. R. Tolkien

Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, “I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.” – Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

Image: Jose Manuel Rios Valiente, Boccaccio1, Emily Martin, Patrick Schmidt

If these photos don’t make you wanna quit your job and travel the world, we don’t know what will.

Asia’s diversity never fails to astound. Nowhere on Earth can you find a greater variety of cultures, languages, races, ethnicities, religions, climates, and geography. It’s mind-numbing.

These photos provide just a taste of what Asia has to offer. They’re also an important reminder of the need to protect what makes the world’s largest continent unique. Though the scenes depicted here may seem worlds away, our choices always have an impact wherever we may roam, reminding us to tread lightly.

(above) Penang, Malaysia

Bangkok, Thailand

Great Wall, China

Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh

Hong Kong

Polomok, Philippines

Bali, Indonesia

Maldive Islands

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Lhasa, Tibet

Huashan Mountain, China

Udaipur, India

Cassava farm near Luang Prabang, Laos

Bali, Indonesia

Singapore

Koh Samui, Thailand

Tokyo, Japan

Tainan County, Taiwan

Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Seoul, South Korea

Abseron, Azerbaijan

Busan, South Korea

Kampong Thum, Cambodia

Shanghai, China

Himalaya Mountains, Uttarakhand, India

Binh Thuan, Vietnam

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Meizhou, China

Koh Samet, Thailand

Dornogovi Province, Mongolia, from the Trans-Siberian Railway

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Ratchaburi, Thailand

Yangon, Myanmar

Eastern Vasayas, Philippines

Makalu Base Camp, Nepal

Kyoto, Japan

Taj Mahal, Agra, India

Elephant orphanage between Colombo and Kandy, Sri Lanka

Angkor Wat, Cambodia 

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Travel journal: No matter where we live, we need nature.

Where are we without nature? This question has struck me over the last week, spending time in the Canadian Rockies, far from city life and away from the usual distractions that keep life busy. It’s cold. There are mountains all around. It’s easy to walk ten minutes and feel in the middle of nowhere.

In a recent conversation about the importance of taking advantage of the present, a friend said “you could get killed by a bear on your run today,” I stopped at the reality of that sentence. Yes, I could get killed by a bear. I wouldn’t put it past the Canadian wilderness. There’s a sense of grounding in that reality.

I love being an urban dweller. But with a childhood of living in a hand-built house in the forest, there’s a part of me that needs the solace that can only be found in quiet spaces. Trade out the usual high density lifestyle for a few moments in mountain air and you’re immediately transported to a different mind space.

Nature fuels creativity, as is clear spending time at the Banff Centre for Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. Our brains need time to disconnect, to readjust to a more natural rhythm, one that begins with a sunrise over the peaks and an afternoon of alpenglow. One where the sound of a raging river is ever present. One where clean air is a given. One where you take in the natural world, not because you choose to go out on an afternoon hike, or take a weekend drive to the country.

As Andrew Weil wrote in an article in Newsweek, “Human beings evolved to thrive in natural environments and in bonded social groups. Few of us today can enjoy such a life and the emotional equilibrium it engenders, but our genetic predisposition for it has not changed.”

I think often of author Richard Louv and his aptly coined term Nature Deficit Disorder. He is right in saying that “The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.” We need to find our balance, the balance that our bodies need and crave, and without, puts us on a path of modern physical and emotional pains. Stress and depression are all maladies of modern society.

Not that picking up your life, buying a cabin in the middle of the woods and settling down to write your memoir in a weathered leather journal by candlelight will solve all problems. Since we live in modern society, we must learn to function within its confines. To find a new balance, one that allows us to enjoy the amenities of urban life but that doesn’t keep us from forgetting how big of a force nature is in keeping us alive.

And not only alive, but fueled and inspired.

Images: Anna Brones

Located on a cobblestone street in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood is the eco contemporary Crosby Street Hotel.

In a city that’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in the U.S., as well as home to many eco inventors, we’re excited that there’s an eco-hotel that’s leading the way in the industry. We are, of course, talking about New York City and tucked smack in the middle of SoHo sits the Crosby Street Hotel.

Featuring floor-to-ceiling warehouse style windows to take in the natural light, each of the 86 rooms are individually designed, some with private terraces planted with native plants. But what’s impressive is that the Crosby Street Hotel is one of the first LEED Gold certified hotels in New York City and is one of the most environmentally responsible in the U.S.

In addition to a slew of green features like green power, use of recycled materials during construction, and usage of regional materials, the Crosby Street Hotel also maximizes their open space. A whopping 61% of the hotel’s site is considered as such, “open,” and on the rooftop is a kitchen garden with a seasonal vegetable patch. Managed by head chef Anthony Paris, also in the formerly unused space on the roof is a Tudor style chicken coop in which the Araucana chickens produce eggs used in the kitchen as well.

Guests are encouraged to visit the Sculpture Garden and the Crosby Bar, both of which are outdoor spaces filled with green space and cool décor, perfect for relaxing with friends.

If you go: Check out the state-of-the-art screening room with 99 seats featuring different films every Sunday. Rates start at $525 per night.

Places & Spaces is a travel guide that will inspire you to carve out a vacation on your calendar. All of the gorgeous locations and accommodations in our guide share our concern for the environment. From tent glamping to lavish built environments, fair warning, you’ll feel compelled to pack your suitcase.